


Family Napping

by author_abz



Category: Best Friends Whenever (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-28 21:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10840128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/author_abz/pseuds/author_abz
Summary: Barry and Naldo nap in the lab together sometimes. Sharing blankets and pillows and couch space. It's just a thing they do. No big deal.At least, it was, and then a soft golden light changes some things.





	Family Napping

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a million years, and I apologize. When this fic started the lab was still exclusively an RV. Which.... just goes to show how long a 4K fic takes me to write. But this... this was worth the frustration, in my opinion.
> 
> MAJOR PROPS go out to my lovely beta Ashley. I took all of her suggestions because she is a smart lady who was kind enough to care about these dorks when she has literally never watched the show. MANY HUGS AND THANKS! <3
> 
> Please enjoy, and please keep writing fics. Disney has done a great injustice in not letting us see these dorks fall in love for real. 
> 
> Instead of that, please enjoy the excess domesticity.

Barry and Naldo call the RV their lab, and everyone they know also calls it their lab, but it's really more of a house. Of course, it started out as strictly a place to do experiments and store dangerous chemicals, but with Barry and Naldo spending so much time there, the RV acquired more and more non-scientific items. First it was the fridge, then some decorations, some of Naldo's art supplies, Barry's books, music, and card collection, extra clothing, and most recently - blankets and a pillow.

Naldo brought one blanket over when Barry kept insisting he was on the verge of a breakthrough in time-travel and refused to leave the lab. So Naldo stayed with him that night curled up under the blanket as the night drew on. Eventually Barry gave it up as the wrong assumption and collapsed next to Naldo at their table, wanting to share the blanket. Because the blanket was too small, and the bench seat too uncomfortable, the next day three more blankets and two old pillows showed up and were neatly placed in their own special cubby-hole. And naps in the RV became something Barry and Naldo did.

They aren't always on purpose - sometimes Barry falls asleep calculating numbers and wakes up to find Naldo had tucked a blanket around him, or sometimes Naldo falls asleep after eating and listening to Barry rant, and wakes up to the pillow squished under his head and a blanket around his shoulders. But for every one of those times there are twice as many times where Barry and Naldo don't want to go back home, or they just want to rest before tackling their next task.

They even figured out how they can both lay down and sleep simultaneously, because Barry knows how sensitive Naldo's neck is, and doesn't want it to get a crick. Plus he wants to make sure he isn't too comfortable and won't oversleep the experiment. At some point that translated into napping at the same time, enabling them to fall asleep across from each other, legs tangled in each other's laps or next to each other sharing a blanket.

When the RV blew up and the lab got a major upgrade, nothing really changed except the lab became even more of a home for Barry and Naldo, and instead of their table and booth, they fall asleep on a full sized couch.

One Saturday Barry and Naldo are napping next to each other, slumped down with their feet up, their blanket tangled and mostly on the floor. Naldo wakes up for a brief moment, readjusting next to Barry, and his eyes open long enough to smile at the way they both unconsciously angled toward each other and the calm, untroubled expression on Barry's sleeping face. His eyes slide closed again, but not before a warm yellow light materializes in the space between them.

Naldo blearily opens his eyes again and sees, fully materialized, a tiny baby asleep on Barry's chest, wrapped snugly in a blanket. The baby scrunches their face up, snuffling, and Barry raises a hand to rest gently on the baby's back, holding it securely against him. Naldo smiles sleepily with the baby, closing his eyes again, warmth spreading through him rapidly.

When they wake up the baby is gone, but Naldo's still warm inside and smiling. He assumes it's from their nap - which has been happening more and more as summer break approaches - and maybe from what he remembers to be a dream. When Barry asks him why he's grinning so much, Naldo says he doesn't know - he must have slept really well. But Naldo takes off his hat, adjusting it, and tries to ignore and forget the dream he had. It certainly wasn't the first dream involving Barry he's had, but it's the first he's associated with that warm set of feelings he's pushed away.

The next time Barry and Naldo fall asleep in the lab it's after they finished watching a movie and are sitting dangerously close to each other. Naldo wakes up with a jerk of his head, which was falling over towards Barry's shoulder, and he tamps down the small bit of guilt pooling in his gut. As he looks over toward the remote in front of Barry, though, the golden, warm light appears and the next second the same baby - or at least one using the same blanket - appears on Barry's chest, wriggling until their little arms are free of the fabric.

Barry's sleeping soundly but adjusts again, one hand coming up to rest on the baby's back, his head drooping closer to the baby's. Naldo finds himself breathing in time with Barry and the baby, calm flowing through him rapidly, allowing nothing but joy and happiness. The baby's arms flail a little more and Naldo finds himself reaching out and gently holding one, rubbing his thumb back and forth across the soft skin. He slumps back, staring at the baby falling back to sleep, his hand outstretched, holding onto the tiny fist resting on Barry's chest, and he falls back asleep soaking in the baby's calm. The baby is gone again by the time they wake up, but Naldo's hand is on Barry's chest, and Barry doesn't ask why, or why he's smiling so much still. All Barry says is that they need to be more careful about when and how long they sleep because time wasted sleeping really wasn't helping them replicate time travel.

Naldo doesn't argue, but he finds himself thinking about the dream image of Barry holding a small baby more than once that day and more than that over the next five experiments - whether Barry was being annoying or not.

Barry falls asleep on his own less than a week later, a book splayed open on his chest. Naldo sits down next to him and moves the book onto the table in front of them. He barely sits back before, in place of the book, the small baby is back between Barry's chest and open palm.

"Hi baby," Naldo whispers, smiling, reaching out to touch the tiny fists, already lost in the now open eyes of the baby. They were a bit droopy with tiredness, but are fighting to stay open at Naldo's voice.

Shutting down the urge to simply take the baby from Barry's grasp, Naldo starts to rub the baby's back slowly, knowing the baby does need sleep. His fingers entangle with Barry's slightly, but Naldo's too busy talking nonsense quietly, soothingly, to the baby. He knows the baby needs sleep and nonsense will help because he knows those eyes and that look - they're Barry's eyes. Still, as he relaxes into his own nonsense droning, Naldo falls asleep, not letting dread or anything but happiness follow him from the dream. There's nothing to be sad about anyway - Barry is his best friend and he's very happy for his baby.

Barry lets them both ignore that they woke up with their fingers intertwined, and for once Naldo has no interest in mentioning it. They continue on with the experiments they already had planned or in progress, and everything is normal. It's normal for the next week and a half, and neither of them fall asleep or stay for long hours at the lab. Naldo dreams about Barry a few times, but never about the baby, and in the moments before he pretends he isn't thinking about this, he thinks that means he's making progress.

One afternoon after Barry and Naldo help Cyd and Shelby out of a time quandry, they both retreat back to the RV, slumping down, mixed parts exasperated and exhausted. Barry doesn't even bother to vocally complain at this point, he just puts his feet up and throws his head back, eyes closed.

"Did we put the blankets away or are they still - ?" Barry asks as Naldo picks up a blanket bundle and throws it at his face. Barry takes it in stride, smiling as he adjusts one blanket on his lap and leaves the other one next to him on the couch. Naldo hesitates for a second, idly wondering why Barry doesn't like to lay down anymore even though they can both fit just fine, then he plops down next to Barry, taking up his own blanket.

Barry could be asleep, but he says, "Ronaldo, do you think we'll ever have a day where we _don't_ have to fix time travel problems?"

"Probably not," Naldo agrees, smiling. He hasn't put his feet up or head back, but Barry looks like he's already asleep when the glowing golden light fills the lab for a split second, and the same baby is suddenly lying on Barry's chest.

Unlike the previous visits the baby's blanket is barely covering it, entangled in their feet, which are flailing all over along with the baby's fists. The baby's face is scrunched up and its making tiny huffing noises while it squirms.

"Ronaldo, what's on me?" Barry says nervously, an air of panic in his voice.

"Barry, calm down, it's just a baby."

Barry opens his eyes at that as he moves his hands up to hold the baby, his eyes wide and panicked. "Why is there a baby on me? How am I supposed to be calm? Why are _you_ so calm?" His voice is strained and high pitched, but he's not screaming or moving - held in place by the fussy baby.

Naldo rolls his eyes, smiling, "Barry, we're dreaming - this is a dream."

 "What?"

"It's just a dream - I've had a bunch of these. Just calm down, go back to sleep, and the baby'll be gone when we wake up."

Barry side-eyes him, trying to keep an eye on the squirming, thrashing mess on his chest. "This has happened _before_?"

"This dream? Yes."

" _We're not dreaming!_ " Barry says, the hysterical tone creeping back into his voice.

"Yeah, because you're awake right now!"

"Exactly! I don't dream when I'm awake!"

"No Barry, you're supposed to be asleep and the baby will be asleep. Then _I'll_ go to sleep, and the baby will be gone."

Barry sits up again. " _What_?"

Naldo pushes him back and fluffs the pillow for emphasis before pushing Barry's head back into a reclining position. Barry looks at him dubiously for a few seconds before closing his eyes and attempting to de-tense. Not even two seconds go by and the baby jerks so hard it nearly falls off of Barry's chest except Barry moves quickly to grab it. He lets out a half huff, half sigh and stands up, grabbing the baby under the arms, letting the blanket fall to the floor.

"Ronaldo, this baby's not going to sleep, _I'm_ not going to sleep, I don't think we're dreaming."

"Sure we are, Barry."

He doesn't say anything, just lets the baby squirm in front of him in his hands. Then he says seriously, "Pinch me and prove it."

Naldo reaches out and pinches Barry's upper arm. " _Ow_." Barry says, glaring. "Now pinch yourself."

He does so, and quickly whines, " _Ow_! Why'd I pinch so hard?"

"Ronaldo, we're not dreaming. What do we do about this baby?"

Naldo looks up from his hurting arm, taking in for a long moment Barry's wide eyes, clenched jaw, and the baby he's holding awkwardly at arm's length - the baby twisting around fretfully, making tiny upset fitful noises.

"Well, start by holding it right." Naldo smiles, standing next to Barry, his body oozing calm. He takes Barry's arms and moves them into his chest, then moving one arm to hold the baby from their bottom, and wrapping the other around its back.

"And calm down, the baby can tell you're freaking out." Naldo smiles into Barry's petrified face, one hand on the baby's back, soothing up and down, the other on Barry's back.

"But how did it get here? Whose baby is it? Why am I holding it?"

Naldo doesn't respond, paying more attention to the baby, trying to make eye contact. "Maybe she's hungry - or maybe she needs her diaper changed. We should check her. What do babies her age eat? Is she still drinking bottles? What kind of food do babies eat?" He gasps, getting more worked up by the second, "Barry, what if she's sick?! Changing diapers and feeding bottles I can do, but I don't know how to take care of a sick baby!"

"Ronaldo, we can look that stuff up, or ask Astrid maybe - but what do you mean 'she' - how do you know it's a girl?" Barry's face has softened in the face of Naldo's panic, his voice calmer, but still unnaturally high pitched.

Naldo's face falls back to the baby girl between them. "Just look at her. If she was a boy she'd look exactly like you, but since she's not she just got your eyes and your mouth."

"Like me?"

"Yeah, she's yours, obviously."

"Ronaldo, I don't have a baby."

"Right now."

Barry stares at Naldo for a few uneven breaths as Naldo gives the baby his full attention. "How do we check her diaper?" Naldo asks.

At the same time Barry sputters out, "So she's my _future_ baby?"

"Yes, and she's upset, what do we do?" He still has a hand on the baby's back and on Barry's, but there's panic in his voice again, which centers Barry on the project at hand.

"Okay, so babies cry when their diapers are full, or they're hungry, or... some other stuff? I don't know, we'll see if she needs her diaper changed?" He bounces back and forth awkwardly, baby actually crying now.

"Diaper, right." Naldo stoops over so he's at eye level with the baby's bottom, reaching his hands toward her butt and stopping several times in a row before he sniffs, his nose closer than his hands. "No poop?" He gingerly presses his hand to the baby's covered butt. "I don't... I don't think there's anything in there? It feels dry? How do I know if she hasn't just peed?"

"I don't know!" Barry snaps, "How do you tell if anyone peed anywhere?"

Naldo focuses on Barry for a second, his face blank, concentrating, and then he takes a hand and places it on Barry's back, shushing him. "Shh, calm down." He puts his other hand on top of one of Barry's awkwardly holding the baby.

"She's crying and we don't know what's wrong, how am I supposed to calm down?"

Naldo gives him a reproachful look as he lightly pushes the squalling baby closer to Barry, ignoring his increasing grimace. "Barry, she knows you're freaking out, and that's not gonna maker her stop screaming." He focuses on moving Barry's hands to cradle the baby against his chest.

"She's probably hungry. You get really grouchy when _you're_ hungry."

"I do not." Barry pouts, still bouncing awkwardly. "And great - she's hungry - we have nothing to feed her."

Naldo pulls out his phone and dials, gently placing his other hand on Barry's back. " _Relax_ ," he says with a deep, visual sigh, catching Barry's eye. "Shelby? Hi - can you do me and Barry a big favor?" A pause. "Okay, go back in time to earlier today - buy whatever you need to feed a baby - like a little little baby - and leave it in the lab like an hour ago? We're desperate." Naldo leans more into Barry as he listens to her response before thanking her and hanging up. "We got this, Barry."

Barry's watching him with wide eyes, breathing heavily, but not moving away from Naldo's hand. The baby starts to whine again louder, the small pitiful noises turning into loud cries. "Ronaldo..."

"Here's Shelby's text - she says they left it on the counter and we owe them thirty bucks."

"Call it even from the forty Cyd owes me," Barry bites back, peering around to see what the girls had gotten them. There's a pack of plastic bottles, a gallon of water, a blue tin, and what looks like a dirty dishrag. "Please tell me you've done this before."

He starts to bounce again as Naldo opens the bottles and looks at the tin."No - but look - instructions!"

Naldo gets into the tin quickly, but before he does anything Barry insists he read out everything on every wrapper. Then he talks through every step whether Naldo needs help or not - his baby girl practically crying over him the whole time. "Good job Ronaldo!" Barry exclaims when Naldo's twisting the cap on a final time.

"I mean, it was a group effort - plus we followed the directions." Naldo responds with a modest shrug.

"Okay, now put the bottle down," Barry gestures with his head and Naldo does, "and take her." He pushes the baby out of his arms like he's heaving her off his chest and into Naldo's arms, which open automatically.

"Barry - !"

"Ronaldo, you got this," he moves his arms spastically like he's shaking water off them. "I do _not_ got this, I am very much freaking out." He shakes his whole body again, breathing heavily.

"Barry -" Naldo's voice comes out small and hurt, arms cradling the girl softly.

"I trust you - I don't trust me, and future me would trust you over me, too."

They look at each other a long moment before Naldo turns away and seats himself carefully on the couch. "Bring me the bottle."

Barry sits next to him on the couch and places the bottle in his outstretched hand, then watches as Naldo places the bottle in the baby's crying mouth. She latches on immediately and starts to drink greedily. Both boys let out a sigh of relief and they relax, Barry leaning into Naldo's side, watching the baby eat with soft, wide eyes.

"You were right, Ronaldo, she was hungry." He says in a tremulous voice.

Naldo's attention is tightly focused on the baby and bottle he's holding, but he shakes his head slightly. "And her Dad could feed her."

"Her Dad _is_ feeding her," Barry says without thinking. When Naldo doesn't say anything after a few beats of silence Barry moves so that his chest is flush up against Naldo's side and rests his face on top of his shoulder, pressing his lips softly into the fabric of his shirt, not taking his eyes off the girl.

"Maybe you can burp her." Naldo whispers.

Barry shakes his head lightly on Naldo's shoulder. "Mmm, I dunno."

"You can," Naldo says, a quiet smile of confidence in his voice.

Barry doesn't respond, but leans in closer, brushing his fingers gently across the baby's forehead. He moves his face a few times against Naldo's shoulder, pushing the baby's silky fine hair back again, smiling into Naldo's shoulder, and then his hands hesitates on her forehead. "She seems awfully warm."

The softness in his demeanor evaporates as he tenses up against Naldo, even as the girl continues drinking. "Babies are supposed to be warm, though," Naldo offers cheerily, while his face tightens, eyes following Barry's actions closely.

"Where did I put the thermometer after I took your temperature...?" Before Naldo can respond, Barry's up and walking around the lab opening and shutting drawers and boxes at random until he has the cheap thermometer he bought when Naldo came down with the flu clutched in his hand.

"Barry, I'm sure she's fine."

"Then the thermometer will say that she's fine and you can say 'I told you so.' Now let's burp her and I'll take her temperature."

Naldo obliges with a pained expression, but the baby doesn't fuss at all, she just reaches her hands up toward the bottle and takes a big breath. The boys' fingers tangle together as they work to undo the snaps and zippers of her outfit to get the thermometer under armpit. While they wait for the thermometer to beep Naldo tentatively pats her on the back while Barry's hands are still there to help hold her up, and after a few pats she lets out a tiny burp. "Was that good? Is she done?"

"Um," Barry thinks with his lips pursed for a second. "No - one more."

He positions his hand for a last back pat when the thermometer beeps, making him jump and hit her back harder than before, and the baby lets out a big burp. "Oh," Naldo's face breaks into a smile and he cradles her like he had been as Barry carefully removes the thermometer to look at it anxiously.

"A hundred," Barry says like someone strangled it out of him. "I knew she was too warm. She’s sick, Naldo, what do we do?"

He doesn't respond, giving the baby back her bottle, watching her latch on and start drinking again. "Naldo?"

"I don't think we do anything, Barry. She's sick, she has a fever. We make sure she's fed and getting rest. That's how people get better. Sleep."

Barry's face is pained like he's straining his whole body thinking. "I... I guess you're right. We don't have a pediatrician to call - yet."

"And she can't be that sick if she just downed an entire bottle." Naldo holds up the now empty bottle.

Barry stares at the bottle held up in front of him for a few seconds; his eyes glossing over. "You're right. Sleep. Sleep is how you get over colds and how you get over fevers, and how you get over your whole body not feeling right and you don't know why."

Naldo smiles and hoists the baby back into Barry's arms. "Good. Now you burp her."

It takes a few minutes of very careful maneuvering for him to actually get the baby in a position he can burp her. It takes so long for him to pat her hard enough on the back for her to burp that she starts to get fussy again. Barry's eyes get wide and his motions get more sporadic the more she wiggles and makes little unhappy _tsk_ -ing noises.

"Breathe," Naldo says, smiling, as he puts one hand on Barry's shoulder, the other covering Barry's hand holding the baby up to his chest.

Slowly, Barry relaxes into Naldo's touch, sinking back into the couch, and pats the little girl firmly enough where she lets out a big burp. "Now what?" Barry asks, looking down at the girl in his arms.

Naldo doesn't say anything, but settles back on the couch next to Barry, one hand still on his, and he puts his face on Barry's shoulder. "Go to sleep, Barry," he says quietly, stretching out across the couch.

Barry scrunches his face up at his best friend, but regardless tries to lay back and get comfortable. But he's still stiff with a baby in his arms, even though she's melted into him, her eyes opening and closing tiredly.

After a solid minute of Barry pretending to relax, Naldo shifts next to him, scooting up until his face is next to Barry's. “I thought you were tired," he whispers.

"If I sleep I'll let go," Barry responds, a tremor in his voice.

"No you won't," Naldo tells him, giving his hand a squeeze and laying his head on Barry's shoulder.

They sit like that for a while, not falling asleep, but pretending they are. At least five tense minutes pass before Barry moves at all, turning his head towards Naldo, whispering, "Why hasn't she gone?"

His eyes are on the baby as Naldo says, "I dunno, maybe we need to actually be asleep." Barry's eyes shift to look at Naldo just as he turns to look back up at him, and they both freeze, suddenly aware of how close together their faces are. They stare at each other a few seconds, Barry's eyes glancing down at Naldo's lips briefly before the baby lets out a deep satisfied sounding sigh in her sleep.

As if on cue Barry leans forward, putting his lips on Naldo's. After a second he starts to pull back and Naldo pushes forward. All the tension drains from Barry, even as their kiss breaks apart.

"Oh," Naldo says lightly, not opening his eyes.

Barry searches Naldo's face, smiling, before he says in a quiet, matter of fact voice, "That makes sense."

Naldo opens his eyes, smiling and says, "What, time travel?"

"No," he shakes his head briefly and leans in to kiss Naldo again chastely. When he pulls back this time they're both smiling.

They exchange kisses for a while until Naldo leans back and says, "Barry, you're really comfortable."

"Thank you."

"And we stayed up all last night watching horror movies you kept criticizing on Netflix."

"I'm sorry you couldn't sleep even after I explained there was no way that doll could kill people."

"I'm really tired."

Barry looks at Naldo carefully, from his bright, half-lidded eyes to his slumped shoulders, and after looking like he wants to argue, he just says, "Okay."

Naldo sighs audibly and rests his head back on Barry's shoulder. The boys relax into each other and the couch before Barry adds, "I mean, our baby's sleeping, and we wanted to take a nap anyway..."

Yawning, Naldo corrects him, "Your baby, she's yours."

"Ronaldo," Barry says with a sigh, "You are the only person in the world - in any time - who could make me want a baby. She's _ours_."

Naldo hums in response, and they both manage to drift off quickly. About five minutes later a yellow glowing light starts to shine around the baby, and the next second she's gone, leaving Barry and Naldo holding hands and cuddling.

When they finally do wake up, Barry kisses Naldo soundly to reassure him it wasn't a dream.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a *thing* for the main four's future children popping back in time to visit their teenage parents' selves. From tiny baby children, toddlers, all the way up to sassy teenage daughters. If you, too, would like to see any of these shenanigans you have to tell me, and I will try to write them. Or write them yourselves! VERY FUN(NY) SHENANIGANS.
> 
> Disney, there were so many more places to go! Like future-children shenanigans! A shame, a SHAME I TELL YOU! (And where am I supposed to watch Gus Kamp be funny now??)


End file.
